


Respite

by INMH



Series: hc_bingo Fanfiction Fills 2016 [4]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Drama, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Nausea, Spoilers, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 04:52:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7831045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INMH/pseuds/INMH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during Beyond. Following some rather stressful events, Chekov needs a moment. </p><p>Again: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Beyond. SPOILERS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Respite

**Author's Note:**

> Saw the movie, loved it. Kinda hard to watch the Chekov scenes though. :(

“Captain, captain, wait- I must sit.”  
  
Jim had to take a full ten seconds to process the meaning of those words before turning around to see Chekov lowering himself down onto a large boulder sticking out of the ground. He kicked himself; Chekov was walking and talking just fine (relatively speaking), no evidence of injury following the landing of the escape pods, and nothing but some bumps, bruises, and scrapes following their shootout in the remnants of the saucer.  
  
“Are you alright?”  
  
Chekov didn’t respond for a moment. In the pre-dawn hours he could just make out Chekov’s face, which was noticeably paler than usual. And after his eyes had a chance to adjust, he saw the ensign’s hands shaking a little as well.  
  
“I will be fine, Captain. But I need a moment.”  
  
Jim relaxed a little. Chekov would tell him if he had been injured. He was a good kid. Not stubborn or emotionally repressed in the least. No, in many respects, he was considerably easier to work with than certain crewmembers of the pointy-eared or medical variety.  
  
(The jab felt natural, but then turned sour because damn it, he had no idea if Spock or Bones was even still alive.)  
  
The forest was quiet. They had yet to encounter anything dangerous in terms of flora or fauna, the greatest danger being detection from the planets’ sentient inhabitants. But since running into a plant that had the ability to morph into a giant snake-monster would possibly be _the_ worst possible thing that could happen right about now, Jim was reasonably certain that that was exactly what would happen.  
  
“Captain.”  
  
Chekov’s voice was a little frail-sounding. That unnerved Jim more than it should have. Chekov was a tough kid; young as he was, now and when Jim had first met him, one might expect that he’d be a little more easily rattled, more prone to panic and fear than the older crew members. But Chekov had kept his cool through who-even-knew how many life-or-death situations, most recently including the evacuation of the Enterprise and their conflict in the ruined saucer.  
  
To hear him sounding a little on the weak side wasn’t good. At all.  
  
“You alright, Chekov?”  
  
There was a pause. When Chekov managed to speak again, his still sounded a little on the wobbly side. “What do we do now? We have nowhere to go. How will we even find the crew, and rescue them?”  
  
Jim let out a long, slow breath. Be honest, or be hopeful? Were the two mutually exclusive in this case?  
  
“Well… As for the crew, we’ll have to find them before we start figuring out how to rescue them. Can’t start coming up with plans until we know what we’re dealing with. We’ll just have to stay two steps ahead of Krall and his crew until then.”  
  
He couldn’t deny, though, that the daunting nature of the task was starting to get to him. His crew was his strength, had been from his first day on the Enterprise up until today. He didn’t have them right now, and given the sheer force of numbers that Krall had at his disposal, there was no denying that Jim and Chekov on their own, realistically speaking, might not be enough to pull off such a large-scale rescue.  
  
Jim was always willing to believe there was a way, always willing to believe that nothing was ever truly impossible, but damn, he could be forgiven for looking at these circumstances and not being the most optimistic soul in the universe.  
  
Still, best not to be too blunt. No need to drag Chekov down.  
  
“We’ll just have to keep moving. Find shelter, find something that looks remotely edible, and then find the crew.” He turned and faced Chekov, trying to affect a winning smile and coming up with something a little more strained. “Don’t worry, Chekov, we’ll think of-”  
  
Chekov abruptly lurched up and off of the rock, stumbling over to the bushes where he began to retch. Jim cringed, unsure if he should be keeping his distance or trying to help. But then, in his experience, the only way you could help someone that was vomiting was to make sure they weren’t on their back, and honestly, Chekov hadn’t reached that point yet.  
  
And he probably wouldn’t get there unless they came upon a keg-party.  
  
After a moment or two, the retching died down. Chekov slowly moved back to the rock, leaning against it instead of sitting on it this time. He shuddered, looking even paler than before. “That was awful.”  
  
“Yeah, it was,” Jim agreed, and then kicked himself for sounding a bit too much like Bones and his god-awful bedside manner. “You didn’t hit your head during our adventure with Lady Lies-a-Lot back there, did you?”  
  
“No, Captain. I’m not hurt. Perhaps it was just…” Chekov shrugged. “…Everything else about it?”  
  
Jim nodded easily, sliding down the rock to sit next to the ensign. “Yeah, I see how the stress of having to abandon a burning, crashing ship could mess with a guy’s stomach.”  
  
“And the saucer. It shook a great deal. And the falling, that was very distressing.”  
  
“And the whole thing with the crew being taken by malicious entity for unknown reasons. Little concerning.”  
  
Chekov smiled. Jim felt himself relax a little.  
  
Alright. Things sucked, and they felt like crap.  
  
But they’d pulled themselves out of worse, right? Not that Jim was signaling to the universe that he wanted to die again or anything, but the point was, they’d been in hairier situations and made it out okay. They could do it again.  
_There’s always a way,_ he thought. _Options may not be great, but we don’t have to accept defeat. We’ll be okay._  
  
“We’ll stay here for a little while- it’s a little too dark to be walking anyway. Once your stomach settles, let me know.”  
  
“Aye, Captain.”  
  
“And you’re certain you’re okay? No injuries that might have done this?” He was doing his damndest not to sound like Chekov’s mother; but sue him for wanting to make sure his (currently) sole companion wasn’t about to pass out.  
  
“Yes, Captain, I’m quite sure. I feel a bit better now.”  
  
Jim lightly clapped him on the shoulder. “Good. Shut your eyes for a few minutes and see if it sticks.”  
  
Chekov drew his knees up to his chest and leaned sideways against the rock, facing Jim. It couldn’t have been comfortable, but the ensign didn’t look bothered. Jim tried to relax a little as well- and really, boulders weren’t supposed to be comfortable, but this one wasn’t too bad. Maybe this was some kind of special Altamid-brand kind of rock that didn’t ruin your back if you tried to sleep on or against it.  
  
Or maybe today had just been Hell and a half, and Jim’s body wasn’t picky about where it fell at this point.  
   
_Just a couple of minutes,_ he thought. _Just a couple of minutes to chill out, and then we figure out how to clean up this mess._  
  
They would think of something.  
  
They always did.  
  
-End


End file.
